Men’s Basketball battles back to knock off TWU in overtime

ATHENS, Tenn. (January 6, 2024) – Lincoln Thomae stole the ball in the final five seconds of overtime and made the game-winning free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining as the Buffs upended Tennessee Wesleyan with a 100-99 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs pick up their third-straight conference win and move to 7-6 on the season and 7-4 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. TWU falls to 4-8, 4-7 AAC.

The Buffs did not lead at any point in the second half or overtime until Thomae's foul shot in the final second of the extra period. Milligan's largest lead at any point in the contest was a single point.

Milligan trailed by 11 points (51-40) in the second half and was down 58-54 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Bulldogs stayed one step ahead of the Buffs as Milligan went from down two possessions to down by three points or fewer 13 times over the final 10 minutes of the second half.

McCaskill Rivers split a pair of free throws to bring the margin to 60-59 with eight minutes to play. TWU's biggest lead the rest of the way was six (82-76) with two minutes to play. Thomae canned a jumper and Follie Bogan had a steal and dunk to bring it to 82-80 with a minute left. After a Bulldog foul shot, Bogan scored again to bring the Buffs within one (83-82) with 21 seconds left.

After a Milligan foul, TWU made two free throws to lead 85-82. Bogan's layup missed the mark but the Bulldogs missed two free throws to keep the Buffs' hopes alive. Bogan made the first foul shot and missed the second but Rivers snatched the offensive rebound, missed a layup, collected the miss and was fouled on a second attempt. Rivers sank both free throws to knot the game at 85 with 10.2 seconds left in regulation.

Following a Bulldogs timeout, TWU went the length of the floor and had a contested layup miss the mark. Milligan gathered the rebound and Thomae had an attempt from just inside halfcourt hit the rim as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime.

The Bulldogs scored in each of their first four possessions of overtime to lead 93-89 three minutes into the extra period. Two free throws grew the hosts' lead to 95-89 with 1:52 left. The Buffs scored four points in less than five seconds of play as Jay Hickman made a pair of free throws and Thomae stole the ball and scored on the ensuring possession. Bogan made two foul shots to tie the game at 97 with under a minute to play in overtime.

After a TWU basket, Thomae tied the game at 99 with a spinning shot in the paint with under 30 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Milligan switched to a zone defense and Thomae jumped in front of a bounce pass to the high post and as he was trying to pass the ball ahead knocked to the ground with 0.8 seconds left. His first free throw hit the back iron, bounced high, hit the backboard and fell through for the game-winning point. Flynn Carlson tipped TWU's final inbound attempt and time expired without a go-ahead shot attempt.

The Bulldogs led by six points in the early going but Milligan took a 15-14 lead on a Sam Gold three just after the midway point of the first half. The Buffs led 22-21 with six minutes left in the first half before TWU responded and carried a 37-31 lead into the half.

Bogan turned in a double-double with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Rivers had 19 points and seven boards. Thomae finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Hickman had 14 points.

The Buffs shot 53.3 percent from the field and was 16-26 from the foul line. TWU shot 54.1 percent from the floor and went 16-25 at the charity stripe.

Milligan plays at Johnson on Wednesday.